I arived for my first harmonica festival about 10am Thursday. I knew there was a jam that night. I asked at the front desk about registration for the event. I was told it would be there in the lobby later that evening.
I returned about 6pm to find a handfull of harpers in the lobby. I intruduced myself and met Bob, Tom,Sally, and Jack. (sorry, no last names come to this forgetfull mind) No one knows about any registration and I'm told this is the jam.
After listening a while, and after hearing,"what do you wanna play?, I don't know, what do you wann play" I grab my 6 acoustic guitar and start in on my campfire songs. After going through 5 or 6 tunes I have to pull out my "book of tunes" and start going through page by page.
After about an hour or two, Dr. Adam Gussow comes through the doors, and is well greetd. He did not stay participate in this non-blues jam. It was not until the next day that I found out Adam had just finished a 3 hour blues jam 5 miles down the road with 2 other killer players. I'm still disapointed the blues jam was not well announced.
(to be continued) ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
About 10:30 the front desk said they were getting complaints about too much noise from the lobby and asked us to stop jamming. So I'm confessing (or bragging) that I believe I was the loud one that caused it. I was singing too loud when I played. Phil arranged for us to move to a conference room and continue. Marvin from the Buckeye Harmonic club, played guitar and lead us through some straight harp tunes with his rack mounted harp.
At midnight, I looked around and realized I was the only diatonic in room full of chromatics(except for Marvin) and I decided to pack it in for the night.
(to be continued) ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Last Edited by on Mar 21, 2011 11:13 AM
sort of like my first experience at the buckeye. i see many older folks with their chromes and chords and bass and i thought i was gonna be disappointed in this convention. one nice lady took me over to meet someone "i just had to meet." it was buzz. the entire weekend changed!
Friday morning I had breakfast with Adam Gussow and Richard Workman. Richard is a harp player from North Carolina. Adam talked about how good the other players performed at the Thursday night jam.
Then we talked about him coming to (insert plug) The Diamond Teeth Mary Blues and Art Festival in Huntington, WV August 26th and 27th. The tentative schedule is for Adam to do a one hour performance at 8pm Friday and join an open jam at 10pm hosted by The Harmonica Club. Saturday will start with an 11am seminar by Adam, followed by the 5th WV State Harmonica Championship. The judges are Adam Gussow, Pat Missin, and David Payne.
Blues acts are slated for the rest of the day. About 70% of the acts have a harp player. Then there will be a final 10pm jam Saturday night.
Along with the music, there will be art on display, street vendors, and beer and wine sold. ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Last Edited by on Mar 22, 2011 5:39 AM
There is an open mic jam in the main room, each day, from 9:30 to 5pm. I was there for the first 1/2 hour. After a group version of The National Anthem, Adam took the stage first and did 1 short number. One other gentleman, then me. Then, off to class.
Each day had one class in the morning and 2 in the afternoon.
Friday morning, Don Lien did what I call, an intro to chromatic harps. We learned about the bass harp (blow notes only) and the chord harp (the center is C. The chords to the right and left follow the circle of fiths. You can do major, 7, minor, augmented and dimenished chords)
Friday afternoon's first class was by Adam Gussow. He was the only instructor to have a hand-out sheet. He touched on micro tonal sounds, like the 5draw bend. The blue 3rd was demonstrated. Though I have played the blue third for 3 years, hearing Adam demonstrate it on guitar allowed me to actually "hear it" (and feel it)right for the first time.
Dennis Gruenling taught the second afternnon class. One thing he discussed was 5 types of tremelo/vibrato 1)stomach, 2)throat, 3)jaw 4)lip 5)hand
------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Last Edited by on Mar 22, 2011 10:42 AM
Having Jim Rumbaugh at the VA Harmonicafest was one of the highlights for me. In addition to playing great harp, Jim also plays a mean bass guitar and added SO much music to our late night blues jams, and also helped me out with my workshop, and was a TREMENDOUS asset to the entire festival as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately, I was not aware that I was to teach a seminar until I arrived at the festival and picked up a schedule. Nevertheless, it was a great time jamming with some great players and friends. I hope Jim returns to the VA festival next year, and I hope he brings his bass guitar to SPAH. Our late night blues jam circle consisted of myself on keyboard, Jim on Bass, TJ Klay on acoustic, 2 mandolin players, plus, one of the attendees was nice enough to let us use his amp and mic so that each of the players got a chance to play amplified.
Between classes, at lunch, I spotted some jamming in the lobby. A lady was doing a good job of picking and strumming while a handfull of guys harped. I joined in for a tune or two. When it was time to part, I gave a Harmonica Club contact card the the guitar player and one harp player that was very good. That harp player was Todd Parrot.
It was my first time to hear him. Later he would lead us in the late night jams and teach a class. If you get a chance hear Todd,do it. There's a lot a guy can learn from him, and he is generous to share. ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
7pm Adam Gussow took the stage with foot drum. It was great to hear him live and feel the energy that one man can deliver. During his performace of "Shunsine of Your Love" was the only time my wife came to find me for "something". After that she said,"Who's that? He's good"
8pm Was Dennis Gruenling. Dennis was backed up by a local guitar player named Mike. I was impressed to hear blues played on the chromatic harp with a lot of octaves.
9pm was Richard Hunter. I'll call him the techno man. He was the one with all the electronic gadgets and did some looping.
10pm was Todd Parrott. Todd has a style that is a mix of blues, country, gospel, and greased lightening. And though he may deny it, he can sing. ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Todd Parrott kept his 10pm performance short so we could start a blues circle jam about 10:30. Todd lead the jam by playing keyboard. I grabbed my bass guitar. TJ Clay was there with guitar. One member had a mandolin. There were about 30 of us in the circle. This was not an acoustic jam. A mic with a LONG chord was ran to a small watt amp. The mic was passed around for everyone to have a turn.
I sat next to Sally. I'll give her a blues nickname of "Blind Sally", because she is. I had met Sally at the Thursday night lobby jam (where we got booted out) She is a chromatic player, but decided she wanted to try diatonics and the blues. She sat there with a new box of 6 Suzuki Bluesmasters that she bought from a vendor at the event. When it was her turn to blow, she did good enough as a rookie. And more than once, when her turn was over, she would say,"That's fun. I like playing the blues"
Dennis Gruenling graced the circle and took his turn with the rest of us. Todd Parrot would also take a turn, holding the harp in one hand while playing the piano with the other. I was impressed. We played for about 2 hours, until about 1am. Then it was off to bed. ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Last Edited by on Mar 24, 2011 10:30 AM
Saturday morning George Miklas & Phil showed us the software they use to organize their show. They now play their chord and chromatic harps to backing tracks. The software allows them to select and arrange the tunes in the desired order plus more. Phil generates their basic in tracks with Band in a Box, then exports it in midi. He edit the midi program to get the bass line the way he wants. He then reprocess the new midi sequence to a wav file with a sampling program.
Richard Hunter did the first afternoon program. He had lots of good advice, such as,"If you can't make simple sound good, you can't make complex sound good"
Todd Parrott had the last afternoon class. I helped out on a demo on how "not to play". TJ Klay showed the right and wrong way to play in a group by not walking all over the other musicians. ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Saturday night was the chromatic night with 5 acts. They were Harmonica Hotshots, Joe Leon, Sandy German, Don Klein, and HarpBeats
Midway through the performance, I went to the lobby and found Todd Parrott and others exchanging tips. Todd gave me a brief and valuable lesson on playing fast.
The performance ended at 11:30. We then had the final blues jam. It was the same or larger than Friday's jam. Dennis Gruenling was part of the group again, and did an AMAZING vobrato technique during his solo. We played until 2am
And that wrapped up Virgina Harmonicafest 2011 ---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Last Edited by on Mar 25, 2011 7:29 PM
Sounds like fun! I've only ever been to Old-Time fests with my girlfriend (I don't even play Old-Time!). I'll have to get to a harmonica fest sometime! ----------
I like the part about the noise in the lobby. Nobody complained about noise at SPAH, nobody could hear anything for the damn airplanes, lol. Wish I'd been there. ---------- www.elkriverharmonicas.com
"There are only two things money can't buy - true love and homegrown tomatoes." - Lewis Grizzard
I'll contribute a couple of brief items to Jim's extensive and interesting list:
1) At the Thursday night jam, I came up a second time towards the end and ended up singing "Crossroads Blues" and sharing the stage with T. J. Klay and Todd Parrott. Todd and T.J. were too gracious to admit it, and it pains me to admit it, but during the solo sections they blew me off the stage. Period. They cut my head. I might have expected that from Jason Ricci or Sugar Blue, but hey: if you don't know just how dangerous TJ and Todd are, you do now. Back to the woodshed for this cowboy. The only bright side: gotta love those overblowing lip-pursers!
2) At the Friday night show, Dennis got stuck with a guitar player, supplied by the festival, who just wasn't at Dennis's level. During the soundcheck, Dennis tried gamely to coach him through the 5/4/1 opening of "Early in the Morning" (Jr. Wells) and the guy had no idea where to come in. He just didn't know the stuff. During the performance, the first few songs were rocky, and it wasn't Dennis's fault. But Dennis did what pros do--and what it's not easy to do in that sort of harp-heavy context, where everybody is waiting for you to do your best stuff: he kept trying different things until he found a couple, including "When the Saints Go Marching In," where they guy actually sounded pretty good. Then he worked it HARD. He played many choruses on that particular song, and the cumulative effect was: Dennis has his groove on. By the end, he owned the stage. That's a pro. When the going gets tough, etc.
3) I owe Todd thanks for hosting the blues jam and allowing me to catch some ZZZs. I drove 740 miles on Saturday, starting early, and played an 11 PM set at Mr. Gip's in Bessember, Ala. I owe ya, Todd.
Last Edited by on Mar 25, 2011 4:36 PM
I met Bruce. He was a font of knowledge and a hoot. This was the only video I captured worth sharing during the event. It's Bruce's backward harmonica trick. He puts the harp in his mouth backwards.
---------- intermediate level (+) player per the Adam Gussow Scale, Started playing 2001
Edit-Fixed a broken link
Last Edited by nacoran on Jul 10, 2024 12:22 PM
first time we met, he went thru his schtick right away. he explained that he had seen somebody do this and thought, "why not?" sort of like when you let your 7 year old put a screw driver into an electrical outlet. sure, your wife screams and yells for a while, but you think, "i wonder if it really hurts that much?" and a week later you're giving it a go. well, it was the same with bruce. he had to try it. and of course, he couldnt get the harp in his mouth. so what would a sane person do? he starts stretching out his mouth. he spends time pulling at the sides of his mouth. slooooowly, he gets the flexibility. then one da....POW! in it goes! i was laughing so hard at the story i didnt ask 2 important questions: 1) had he thought beforehand how to play something? 2) how did the harp come out?
